Annex B. 22-HPAC-01197 - Dock Replacement, Esquimalt Harbour, View Royal – Implementation of Measures to Avoid and Mitigate the Potential for Prohibited Effects to Fish and Fish Habitat (DFO, 17 November 2022)

• Retain a Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP) to conduct environmental monitoring during all project activities that may result in potential negative effects to fish and fish habitat.
• Complete pile installations works, undertakings and activities within the least risk timing windows for Area 19 - Victoria (Summer: July 1 - October 1, Winter: December 1 - February 15).
• Only conduct in-water works, undertakings and activities during daylight hours and when weather conditions permit visual observations of fish and marine mammals.
• Avoid conducting in-water work during periods of adverse weather.
• Minimize the duration of in-water works to the extent possible.
• Ensure vessels are not operating in shallow water causing direct physical disturbance to the seabed/habitat from propeller scour.
• Conduct works at suitable tides to prevent grounding of barges on the seabed.
• Water-based equipment is not to ground upon the seabed except for the use of anchors or spuds needed to keep the equipment in place.
• No spudding down or anchoring is to occur in sensitive fish habitats such as eelgrass beds and kelp beds.
• Minimize movements/repositioning of barges and subsequent spudding and anchoring to minimize direct, physical disturbance to the seabed.
• Conduct water quality monitoring during pile installation to confirm that turbidity levels in the water column outside the immediate vicinity of the works are below approved British Columbia Water Quality Guidelines (Aquatic Life). If water quality guideline exceedances are detected, stop work and implement additional mitigation measures (e.g., slow work, install a sediment curtain, etc.) to minimize sedimentation.
• Keep a silt curtain on-site and deploy around the in-water works as required or as recommended by the environmental monitor.
• If drilling methods are used for pile installation, dispose of drill cuttings off site at an approved facility, and only discharge any sediment-laden water generated during drilling within the silt curtain.
• Develop and implement a spill prevention and response plan to avoid a spill of deleterious substances into the aquatic environment. Ensure appropriate gear (e.g., floating containment booms, absorbent pads, etc.) is onsite in the event that deleterious substances are released into the water. Onsite personnel should also be trained in spill prevention, containment, and cleanup procedures.
• Avoid the use of expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) floats for docks and other floating infrastructure unless the foam is encapsulated to prevent its release into the marine environment.
• If there is a risk of harm to a marine mammal from direct contact, temporarily suspend construction until there is no longer risk of harm from direct contact or the individual has not been resighted for 30 minutes.
• The following mitigation measures are applicable to pile installation by vibratory hammer and drilling only:
  • Establish a minimum 500 m cetacean exclusion zone around the project site prior to pile installation.
  • Monitor for cetaceans for at least 30 minutes prior to the start of pile installation. If a cetacean enters the exclusion zone, temporarily suspend pile installation until the individual has left the exclusion zone or has not been sighted for 30 minutes.
• Pile installation using a vibratory hammer is the preferred method rather than impact driving (e.g., drop hammer) or drilling. If impact driving methods are used, complete pile installation in accordance with the following mitigation measures:
  • Conduct hydroacoustic monitoring during impact pile driving to verify that underwater acoustic thresholds are not exceeded.
  • Install an effective sound attenuation device (e.g., bubble curtain) to be used prior to and during impact pile driving to ensure sound levels do not exceed 207 dB re: 1 µPa and a SELcum of 186 dB re: 1 µPa²s outside of the sound attenuation device.
  • Establish separate fish, pinniped, and cetacean exclusion zones (e.g., perimeter around the sound source) prior to impact pile driving. The pinniped exclusion zone is to be a minimum distance of 100m from the sound source. The cetacean exclusion zone is to be a minimum distance of 500 m or the distance where sound levels do not exceed 160 dBRMS re: 1 µPa during impact pile driving, whichever is greater.
  • Monitor the exclusion zones for the presence of fish for at least 10 minutes and for pinnipeds and cetaceans for at least 30 minutes prior to the start of impact pile driving.
  • If fish, pinnipeds, and cetaceans are not observed in the respective exclusion zones during the prestart period, a soft start procedure is recommended where the impact energy is gradually increased over a 10 minute period. The soft start procedure is also recommended any time after there is a break of 30 minutes or more during impact pile driving.
  • If a pinniped or cetacean enters their respective exclusion zones, temporarily suspend pile installation until the individual has left the exclusion zone or has not been resighted for 30 minutes.
  • If hydroacoustic monitoring indicates sound levels in excess of the above mentioned thresholds, impact pile driving should cease and only resume after additional measures are implemented to effectively reduce sound levels below the thresholds.

Provided that you incorporate these measures into your plans, the Program is of the view that your proposal is not likely to result in the contravention of the above mentioned prohibitions and requirements.

Should your plans change or if you have omitted some information in your proposal, further review by the Program may be required. Consult our website (http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/pnw-ppe/index-eng.html) or consult with a qualified environmental consultant to determine if further review may be necessary. It remains your responsibility to remain in compliance with the Fisheries Act, the Species at Risk Act and the Aquatic Invasive Species Regulations.

It is also your Duty to Notify DFO if you have caused, or are about to cause, the death of fish by means other than fishing and/or the harmful alteration, disruption or destruction of fish habitat. Such notifications should be directed to the DFO-Pacific Observe, Record and Report phone line at 1-800-465-4336 or by email at DFO.ORR-ONS.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.

Please notify the Program by email at ReferralsPacific@dfo-mpo.gc.ca at least 10 days before starting your project, ensuring your file number and appropriate on-site contact information is included. We recommend that a copy of this letter be kept on site while the work is in progress. It remains your responsibility to meet all other federal, territorial, provincial and municipal requirements that apply to your proposal.

Please note that the advice provided in this letter will remain valid for a period of one year from the date of issuance. If you plan to execute your proposal after the expiry of this letter, we recommend that you contact the Program to ensure that the advice remains up-to-date and accurate. Furthermore, the validity of the advice is also subject to there being no change in the relevant aquatic environment, including any legal protection orders or designations, during the one year period.

If you have any questions with the content of this letter, please contact Shawn Seguin at our Vancouver office by email at Shawn.Seguin@dfo-mpo.gc.ca. Please refer to the file number referenced above when corresponding with the Program.

Yours sincerely,

Shawn Seguin Section Head Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program

c.c.: Sharon Horsburgh (Bayshore Planning Services Inc.) at sharon@bayshoreplanning.com